Every runner has a familiar training loop. For the Oklahoma Christian cross country team, the imprint of that loop is clearly defined on the grass that perimeters their campus. Trampled by countless footsteps, and thousands of laps, the narrow, 3-mile path embroidered on the grass is one that the athletes use for most of their easier runs; 3 laps before returning to the gym.

Four days after their victory at the Nov. 5 Sooner Athletic Conference meet and 10 days prior to the NAIA national championships, coach Mark Thompson has created a smaller loop within the confines of the larger one. It’s one he specifically made for the upcoming the national meet: a fartlek workout on a 2K grass course. Between the repeats and the rest, he figures they’ll cover four laps the same number of times they’ll be circling the 2K lap at nationals in Vancouver, Wash.

After his team warms up, he huddles the team around him, instructing them on the day’s workout.

“Now please watch for the cars when you cross the road,” he says, pointing out how the course is different than the grass loop they normally run. “If you get hit by a car … I’ll make you pay for the dent in the car,” he says, getting a chuckle out of a few his runners. “Seriously, though, it’s not worth getting hit to save your interval.”

And his runners are off, running an alternating pyramid workout in the form of hard efforts followed by the equal amount of rest. They start with 1 minute hard, followed by a minute of jogging rest. Then it’s 2 minutes hard, followed by a 2-minute jogging rest. They continuing with the pattern, with intervals of 1, 3, 1, 4, 1, 3, 1, 2 and 1.

Alternating runners take the lead at the start of each repeat, mimicking the “Cat and Mouse” style workout that they completed prior to the conference meet. The runners are smooth on the parts of the path they know, but tentative on the parts that are new to them: sudden and disruptive hills, gulleys used for water irrigation, and sudden, 180-degree changes in direction. Wrapping around a pine tree, sophomore Austin Simkins howls his approval at one point in the workout, one that seems to be going without incident.

That is, until No. 1 runner Silas Kisorio falls.

Thompson doesn’t find out until he sees the top group complete a lap without him.

“What happened to Silas?” Thompson says.

“He fell when he was about to cross the road. Spread eagle. A car came, like, this close to his head,” a runner responds.

When Kisorio walks slowly towards the team’s huddle point, his teammates are running 200m all-out repeats on the grass with a full recovery (“We need to think: ‘Everybody beats two in the homestretch.’ That will give us 10 points, which might make the difference,” Thompson says ). Thompson can sense his brooding. “Are you OK?” Thompson asks Kisorio, a senior from Eldoret, Kenya, who is expected to compete for the individual title.

Kisorio points to his hip and to his side, pointing out the areas that are bothering him most. It appears to be a minor affair, one he’ll walk off today, leaving him ready to run tomorrow. However, the lesson is clear: at this point in the game, the team can afford close calls, but it absolutely can’t afford any mishaps or injuries.